Robin came to Scarleteen as an intern in early fall of 2011. After completing her internship, she immediately came on board as a volunteer, primarily focusing on copyediting (or, as she calls it, tidying our "stacks"), content development and our direct services. Robin's kindness, great attention to detail, and dedication to doing all she can to help sustain and grow Scarleteen and support holistic, humane sex education and caring support have blown all of us here away right from the start.

In her new position as AD, Robin will continue with the work she has already been doing, and will also bring her fantastic people skills to volunteer management and, unsurprisingly, will be...well, assisting the director, including with aspects of Scarleteen I've mostly or entirely managed alone for our getting-close-to-15-years tenure.

If you contact us and hear back from Robin, it'll probably be because you had an editing, accessibility or volunteering question or issue, or because I actually was able to take a few days off (days I may spend sitting in shock and disbelief, looking up "day off" on the internet to try and figure out what one is actually supposed to do with one of these strange, alien things).

Robin Mandell has studied sexuality, gender, and equality formally and informally for over ten years. She holds a degree in Women’s Studies from Queen’s University, during which time she focused her studies on sex, gender, and ethnicity. During her studies, she noted a lack of perspective and scholarship on disabled and different bodies. Entering the sexuality field, she found a similar lack of awareness or discussion of disability with sexuality and relationships. She is committed to using her knowledge, as well as her reality as a visibly disabled person, to keep disability a core focus of her sexuality work.

Robin has experience as a crisis line volunteer, first with the Sexual Assault Center of Kingston and later with Crisis Link. At both crisis lines she received extensive training in listening and communication skills, plus specialized knowledge of sexual assault survivors’ needs, general crisis management. Out of this work grew her conviction that people are resilient and that with support and guidance they can find their own answers to what they need.

She has also trained and been mentored by sex educator Ducky DooLittle. Robin’s particular areas of interest and expertise include women’s, disability, healthcare and LGBT issues.

Robin continues to enrich her training by reading books, going to conferences, and networking with other sexuality professionals. When she is not talking to people or writing about sex and intimacy, Robin can be found reading, practicing yoga, or lazing around the house with her partner and two Labrador retrievers.

To find out more about our staff and volunteers, click here. To contact Robin directly, she can be reached at robin @ scarleteen.com.

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